From the author of JUNO: Canadians at D-Day, June 6, 1944, comes a new book about the Famous Canadian Victory at Vimy Ridge.

At the height of the First World War, on Easter Monday April 9, 1917, in early morning sleet, forty-nine battalions of the Canadian Corps rose along a nine-mile line of trenches in northern France against the occupying Germans. All four Canadian divisions advanced in a line behind a well-rehearsed creeping barrage of artillery fire. By nightfall, the Germans had suffered a major setback. The Ridge, which other Allied troops had assaulted previously and failed to take, was firmly in Canadian hands.

It was the first time Canadians had fought as a distinct national army, and in many ways it was a coming of age for the nation. Based on first-hand accounts, like JUNO: Canadians at D-Day, Ted Barris paints a compelling and surprising human picture of what it was like to have stormed and taken Vimy Ridge.

Praise for Ted Barris’s Victory at Vimy…

“Barris has gathered the best of these soldiers’ words to tell his story, often with breathtaking simplicity and grace … The accompanying maps, graphics and photographs are first-rate, making it easily the best book for those few Canadians who are completely unfamiliar with Vimy Ridge, and a must-read for the vast majority who have heard of the battle but know little about the details.” – National Post

“[Barris] lets the front-line soldiers tell their stories in a dazzling recreation of the battle … Here are the men … their letters, journals post-war interviews and other original source treasures carefully mined by Barris and seamlessly fused into one of the most poignant narratives ever written about the Great War.” – Calgary Herald

“Through a masterful use of oral histories, personal letters and memoirs … historian Ted Barris has created a fitting memorial to the ordinary Canadian soldiers, who fought 90 years ago in the War to End All Wars. Rarely have the thoughts and feelings of so many spoken so clearly through the widening mist of history.” – Winnipeg Free Press

“The book concentrates on relationships between boys who were originally strangers, but soon became comrades for life under the partnership system … Ted Barris has produced a magnificent account of the land battle at Vimy Ridge.” – Esprit de Corps

Hi, I just heard your interview with Peter Mansbridge talking about Vimy. I have wonder if any one has written about all of the nursing sister that were during that war? My cousin, Claire Gass, was there and I have read the book of her dairies. And when you described what it was like, and the women who drove the ambulance. Every year on Nov 11 the tributes, and the reading of John McRae’s poem, I think of Claire and others like and what it must have been like to see all of wounded. Someone needs to tell their story.

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U.S. Stalag Luft III PoW group honours Ted

The Great Escape: A Canadian Story has received its first recognition in the United States. In late August 2014, members of the Stalag Luft III Prisoners of War Association in the U.S. presented Ted Barris with a “Certificate of Honor" for his work on publishing the historical account of the famous 1944 breakout in the Second World War.

Ted does TEDx Talk

On May 8, 2013, Ted Barris spoke to students of St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Durham Region (east of Toronto). The original TED Talk presentation posed the question: Why should young people reflect on war and veterans?

2014 Libris Award

During a gala ceremony in Toronto, on June 2, the annual Libris Awards were presented. Ted Barris’s book, “The Great Escape: A Canadian Story,” received the 2014 Libris Best Non-Fiction Book Award, sharing the honour with Chris Hadfield for his book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth.” In presenting the award, host Terry Fallis explained the criteria: “The award for non-fiction book of the year goes to a Canadian work of non-fiction published in 2013 that made a lasting impression on the Canadian book selling industry, through wide media attention, increased traffic to bookstores and strong sales.”

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

During an awards ceremony at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Oct. 14, 2012, Sen. Joseph Day presented Ted Barris with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The announcement issued with the award said, in part, “the medal is a visible and tangible way to recognize outstanding Canadians … who have built and continue to build this caring society and country through their service and achievements.”

Commendation

On July 27, 2011, the Minister of Veterans Affairs for Canada awarded 19 citizens his annual commendation. Traditionally, the award is “presented to those veterans … who, in an exemplary way, have contributed either to the care and well-being of veterans or to the remembrance of the sacrifices and achievements of Canadians in armed conflict.”

Most of the 2011 recipients are veterans. Ted Barris, a civilian, also received the commendation.

About Ted Barris

Barris is an accomplished author, journalist and broadcaster. As well as hosting stints on CBC Radio and regular contributions to the Globe and Mail and National Post, Barris has authored 16 non-fiction books and is a full-time professor of journalism at Centennial College in Toronto. He has also written a weekly newspaper column - The Barris Beat - for more than 20 years.

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